


Fine Again

by GloryBox



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, It's set in Boston, Starts out kinda angsty but ends up like it's always sunny in philidelphia, bar au, mentions of rape/non-con, rating will probably go up later on, some harrassment, thats the only city i kind of know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-04-19 11:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4745384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloryBox/pseuds/GloryBox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU.  Max tends a bar and gets more involved in his coworkers lives and vice versa than either anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An introduction: Max

**Author's Note:**

> This is a modern AU, set in Boston. There is already a fabulous Bar AU (Titled :There but for... by: we are the stories, if you want to check it out) in the mad max fandom but I couldn't get this out of my head.

When the radio alarm goes off he’s already awake.  He had stared at the ceiling, watching it in the dark until the morning light slowly crept in, listening as the city began to wake up.  No sleep for the third night in a row, he felt like death.  He unwillingly turned his head, glaring at the alarm as some talk show hosts laughed at a dumb joke.  For a second he wanted to hurl it out the window, longed for the ringing silence after he ripped the cord out the wall. 

But he reached over and gently flicked the off button.  He sat up and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed, back cracking.  He rubbed his eyes, bloodshot with dark bags underneath, then dragged his hands down his face and groaned.  He was exhausted, a dull headache that came from lack of sleep throbbing in the back of his head.  He didn’t want to go to work like this, exhausted and miserable. 

He considered the possibility of calling out, his boss, a spry old lady who everyone called Keep, was always on him.  _Take the night off boy and have some fun of your own!  Go and enjoy the sun while it lasts!_   Of course, she had said the last one when it was still fall.  The sky was gray, all the leaves where gone and he could tell it was cold out there.  Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but it would soon. 

Suddenly a nicer, more appealing idea dawned on him.  _You can leave_.  He had been there for four months, the longest he had stayed anywhere in a long time.  After leaving his home, he had wandered aimlessly across the country, stopping only to rest and make a few bucks at some entry level job for a few weeks before leaving again.  He had made a habit of it, working into its own kind of self-help, that would leave his late former therapist, Dr. Gallow, rolling in his grave. 

He told himself the longer he stayed, the longer he subjected himself to the torture that was a menial dead end job, human interaction and just plain existing in this shell of his former self, the longer he could drive, uninhibited, and never look back.  An act of self-restraint, inhibition, then reward.  He guessed his original incentive was that maybe someday he would just stay at a job forever and lead a normal life again.  But after the first few months of applying, working then quitting job after job, it became a cycle instead of a plan, but he stuck to it anyways. 

He cocked his head to the side, his neck cracking loudly, then did the same to the other side.  He reached over and grabbed his leg brace and strapped it on.  His knee was throbbing this morning, maybe from the cold or just the exhaustion or maybe both.  He hobbled to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face.  He gripped the edges of the sink and slowly looked up into the mirror.  He flicked his gaze to his own eyes, blue but only noticeable in certain light, otherwise they looked brown and round.  He could never look himself in the eye, at least not for more than a second before dropping his gaze.  He has had an easier time staring death in the face than himself. 

 

 xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

He walked to work, the bar only a few blocks from the house he rented.  He could see his coworker’s Jeep already in the parking lot.  He sighed.  One good thing was that it wasn’t going to be busy tonight, just regulars and a few couples or coworkers meeting for drinks.  Bad thing was that his coworker, Nux, would be there with him.  Nux was a good kid, young though and a little strange, and no matter what he did, Max could only find himself annoyed with him.   

Max’s other coworkers were somewhat more tolerable.  He had yet to figure out the entire situation, but it appeared Keep was close friends with a woman named Furiosa who seemed to run some kind of battered woman’s home, and it’s current residents where regularly called in as waitresses on busy nights.  There was Angharad, a heavily pregnant young woman who started more fights than anyone else in the bar despite being a pacifist.  Toast (who he thought was an absolute riot) was a small girl with a smart mouth who Max had overheard recently had been accepted into Tufts.  Surgical tech or something. 

Nux’s girlfriend, Capable, had striking red hair, and like Nux, talked to him more than anyone else.  She started no fights, but seemed to enable everyone else.  The Dag, a strange name for a strange girl, liked to shove small potted plants across the bar to him (which now covered every window sill in his house), was a horrible waitress and also liked to swear at patrons.  Of course, the patrons that the girls fought with deserved it, whether it was some gross sexual comment, harassment or unwanted grope, the girls didn’t take any shit. 

There was a fifth girl, too young to work in a bar, named Cheedo that he only saw on the rare occasion all five of them (plus Furiosa and Keep) would climb onto the stools after closing and have a drink.  The only things he knew solidly about her was that she was shy and liked Sprite.  Oh, and that she was very close with Dag.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The night is busier than he expected and he quickly became agitated and overwhelmed, the exhaustion of his brain slowing him down.  Angharad and Toast get called in and things run a little more smoothly.  At least, that is, until around 10 when some ancient looking scumbag with an oxygen tank decides to pinch Toast’s ass. 

“Hey!” She snapped.  His friends laugh and Toast spins around to smack him but one of his friends, an obese old man with ridiculous eyebrows, trips her into his lap.  Angharad bolts over from across the bar to help but the old oxygen tank man snatches her wrist. 

Max reached them the second after Angharad had, gripping the old man’s wrist so he let go of Angharad, then throwing his pudgy arm down and turned to pull Toast out of the other old man’s lap. 

“Out!”  Max barked, pointing to the door.  Max wasn’t a big man, Angharad who was standing next to him was obviously taller, but he had big shoulders and looked like he’s been in a few fights.  The one with the oxygen tank bellowed out “Do you know who I am _boy_!”  While the obese one with the eyebrows seemed to become instantly nervous.  The third one, also old, who’s bottom teeth where black and rotted eyed him devilishly, smirking. 

“Get out!”  Max barked again, still pointing to the door.  The one with the rotten teeth chuckled and got up, taking his time.  Max glared furiously at the one with the oxygen tank as he slowly stood up, glaring right back at Max.  The obese one hobbled up with a cane, he appeared to have some kind of foot deformity.  As the oxygen tank one passed Max he paused to glare at Max right in the eyes, only breaking eye contact to glance at Angharad who spat at him.  His lip curled and he slowly walked out, deliberately dragging his oxygen tank as slowly and loudly as possible. 

Max didn’t stop glaring until the door slammed shut behind them.  He turned back around to assess the girls.  Angharad was red faced with rage and Toast was breathing hard, her eyes moist.  Nux appeared from the back with his headphones still in, who had been on break (of _course_ he had been on break when the action happened) and looked up and took in the sight. 

The bar had gone silent and everyone was staring at them, making Max deeply uncomfortable. Max eyed them with concerned and cleared his throat.   

“Why don’t you two take a break?”  He suggested, eyeing the door where Nux had just appeared from.  Angharad nodded and took Toast by the hand and lead her out back.  Max went back behind the bar and watched the door, an uneasy feeling starting to form in his stomach.

          

xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

They close at midnight but Max doesn’t leave till one.  Nux walks Toast and Angharad to their car and helps Max clean up but gets out a half hour early when Max says he’s got it.  He finishes cleaning up alone and locks up, glancing up at the flashing light in the windows above the bar as he stuffs the keys in his pocket.  Keep must still be up watching TV, despite her claiming that she was going to bed hours ago.  Max smiles fondly to himself and steps off the door step and starts the cold walk home. 

He shuffles home with his hands shoved in his pockets, his breath visible in the air, illuminated by the street lights.  He passes Furiosa’s house and notes Toast’s car in the driveway, glad that they made it back safely.  Just as he turns the corner to his block he hears voices and the shuffle of feet.  He freezes, exhaling through his nose, the breath dissolving into the cold air.  _Here they come…_  

A group of three men round the corner, walking with too much conviction to just be wandering, they had a specific destination they were going to, or in this case, a specific person.  When they see Max they obviously perk up and pick up the pace, faces hidden in the dark.  Max considered his options.  He could run, to his house, maybe out run them and hide inside.  Or he could fight three young men at once, who were probably armed, and might kick his ass.  _OR_ , he assured himself, he could also easily kick theirs because he also had a few variables.

When they reach him there’s no introduction or pause, they know who he is, probably following him from the bar.  The one in the middle immediately swings at him, but Max ducks from the blow and snaps back up and clocks him, knocking him out.  The other two are on him immediately, one holding his shoulders while one gets a good punch to his face before throwing him down.  They both kick his ribs, attacking both sides, one kicks his head for the hell of it and Max sees stars.   

Max finally manages to grab the foot of one of his attackers mid kick and makes him loose his balance as the other continues to kick him, Max drags down his partner with a gasp. The man falls on top of Max and knocks into the other one, all three of them down now.  Max, mustering up all his strength, shoves himself up from under the man, his ribs screaming in agony, he almost blacks out.  They both try to grab him but Max makes it to his feet first but the one that had gotten knocked down by his partner snags his brace, trying to pull Max back down.  Max grabs his head brings his knee to it in a fast, robotic movement, then does it again, knocking the man’s teeth out, then does it again before letting the man drop. 

The one he had pulled down is getting to his feet when Max slams into him again, the man falling on his back and Max sits on his chest and pounds him in the face in fast, rapid punches until he goes still.  Once Max stops he is aware that the only sounds he can hear are distant police sirens and his raspy breathing as he struggles to pull in air.  His knuckles are raw and gory, his hands are shaking, blood drips from his bottom lip and falls onto the neck of the man he’s sitting on.  Max grimace’s and slowly stands up, his bad knee almost unbearable and stumbles off the man and limps home. 

He locks the door behind him and goes upstairs.  He peels off the layers he had acquired to stay warm and washes his hands in the sink, watches the bloody water circle the drain.  He inspects his face, a split lip and a soon to be black eye but overall most of the damage is too his ribs.  He gingerly lifts up his shirt, sucking in a breath at the bruises that had already blossomed over the sides of his rib cage.  He wraps his knuckles in gauze and changes into warm sweats and a sweater.  He crawls into bed and is dead to the world before his head hits the pillow. 

 


	2. Furiosa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Furiosa.

“Can we stop at Dunkin on the way?”  Cheedo asked.  Furiosa choked back the urge to say _Of course we can_.  Furiosa had what might be referred to as a _soft spot_ for Cheedo.  Cheedo was the youngest of the girls, only 16, and she was just _so damn sweet_. 

When the girls arrived at her home, Furiosa made it very clear she was not their mother, and they were fine with it, most of them old enough to take care of themselves anyways.  But because Cheedo was a minor Furiosa had become her legal guardian. So between that and that fact that Cheedo had been Furiosa’s shadow for the better part of the year, Furiosa felt a _little_ bit like her mom. 

 “Alright.” Furiosa said, grabbing her keys.   “I need coffee anyways.”  She muttered, trying to play off the fact that she would have said yes whether she needed coffee or not.  They walked down her driveway, the cold biting their faces, the sky white and overcast.  They climbed into her truck at the end of the driveway,  behind the three other cars.  She would park on the street and wait for everyone to get home before going out in the cold dark and pulling it in before it got towed for being out in the street past curfew.  Toast and Angharad had gotten home a little after midnight last night, immediately going into a rant about the gross old men that had harassed them. 

Stories of that nature where not unusual, but what had sparked Furiosa’s interest was the _particular_ old man that Toast described as ‘An ugly old fuck with an oxygen tank’.  After further questioning about his friends Furiosa was certain it had been Joe and his friends.  After they were done telling her about their night she had called Keep (who pretended to be sleepy but Furisoa knew for a fact that she had been up, probably watching soap opera reruns) to tell her about the possibility that Joe had been in the bar last night.  After a quick discussion Furiosa had declared that she would take the day off from her job search and work the bar just in case Joe came back. 

They pulled in front of the of the Dunkin Donut’s and Furiosa started pulling out crumpled bills out of her pocket for Cheedo. 

“I want-”

“Large black coffee, two sugars.  Got it.”  Cheedo said and smiled and opened the door.

"Bring back my change!"  Furiosa called as she got out and closed the door, the cold blowing in.  Furiosa watched as Cheedo walked in, relieved that she didn’t have to go in and order.  She hated ordering fast food, the cashiers with joyless eyes, filled with apathy.  _That’ll be you soon_ she thought.  She had worked in a garage for 15 years only to have it go belly up a few months ago.  She had been looking for a new garage to work in that was still in the area but had yet to be successful.  She was running out of money, and even though Keep had offered to hire her at the bar, she continued her search. 

Cheedo came out with her coffee and a small box of doughnuts and a brown paper bag.  She climbed in and Furiosa graciously accepted the coffee, skeptically eyeing the food.  Apparently, she wouldn’t be getting her change back.  She already knew what Cheedo got for herself, the girl loved strawberry anything, straw berry frosted doughnuts, strawberry cake, strawberry ice cream, strawberry lemonade, strawberry shortcake, strawberry jelly.  She even had strawberry flavored lip gloss, which had originally made Furiosa suspicious that she was eating her lip gloss.  Now that she thought about it, she never ruled that out…

“Got you a muffin,”  Cheedo said, handing her the brown bag. Furiosa smiled a thanks and happily accepted it, peering in and pulling out a blue berry muffin.  “And Keep loves those lemon filled doughnuts, so I got her a couple of those.  Then I thought I might as well get the half dozen, I’m sure Max or Nux will want them.”

Furiosa nodded, and pulled the gear shift into reverse.  They backed out and finished the short drive to the bar.  Once they parked a little ways down the street she pulled down the sun visor and checked her face in the little mirror for food and (out of habit) oil or grease.  When she closed it Cheedo was looking at her then turned away, grinning. 

Furiosa didn’t wear makeup, at least not since she was a teenager and suddenly decided to master the art of winged eyeliner.  But that was a couple decades ago, a distant memory of tentatively painting black on her eyelids.  _However_ , her equivalent to putting on makeup in her adult life was making sure her face was clean, which the girls had noticed she started doing every time she went to the bar since Max had started working there. 

Furiosa narrowed her eyes and got out of the car.  The cold hit her lungs and she coughed, clutching her coffee.  Cheedo’s Thanksgiving vacation didn’t technically start until next week, but they had to start the vacation early due to frozen water pipes and Furiosa did not find that surprising at all.  She sniffed and walked in, Cheedo following behind, shouldering her backpack.  

It was empty inside, the bar didn’t open until noon and they still had a few hours to go, but Furiosa couldn’t think of anything better to do this morning and was excited about the idea of working.  Keep was sitting at the bar over a notebook.  She looked up and smiled at them. 

“You brought treats!”  She said excitedly hobbling up while Furiosa and Cheedo shrugged out of their coats.  Keep had an obsession with lemon that mirrored Cheedo’s love for strawberry.  _Sour and sweet_ Furiosa thought.  There wasn’t much to do this early in the morning, but Furiosa made sure everything was clean, wiping down the tables, then doing it again a half hour later for no particular reason.  She made sure everything was tidy behind the bar then swept, checked the clock and any other task she could busy herself with. 

Obviously Cheedo couldn’t hang around the bar, she was only 16, so she went up with Keep around opening time.  If she had wanted to stay home, Furiosa would have let her, she didn’t need to be baby sat.  But when Furiosa asked if she minded hanging out at the bar for the day with Keep, she had said yes.  Furiosa later learned that the Dag was scheduled to work later, and that was probably the cause of Cheedo’s willing participation. 

Nux came in and looked surprised to see Furiosa behind the bar but greeted her cheerfully.  She liked the kid, he all but worshiped Capable and was good with all the girls, so for now, she was nice.  A customer or two trickled in but for the most part they didn’t really have anything to do, so Furiosa busied herself with making sure everything was clean.  After she spent a good half hour making sure all the shot glasses were spotless she looked up to find Nux staring at her with one eyebrow raised. 

“What?” She asked, a little irritated.  Nux shrugged. 

“You and Max do the same thing,”  He said, then jerked his head side to side, looking around, appearing alarmed. 

“Did you take his shift?”  Nux asked.  Furiosa shook her head and Nux looked to the clock over the bar.  “Then he was supposed to be here an hour ago.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a little afraid to write Furiosa tbh, some of the renditions of her on here have been incredible but I had fun with it and I'm pretty happy with how this chapter came out. I got like most of next chapter planned out and like half written so it should be out soon. Thanks for reading! :)


	3. All about Joe

_Max_ …. Jesse’s voice whispers. He’s running down an endless road, the broken bodies of his wife and son comes into view ahead of him, distorted by the heat haze. He runs with everything he has, his breath wheezes as the thumping of his heart fills his ears. Suddenly and simultaneously a gunshot cracks through the air and pain explodes in his knee and he collapses. He rolls onto his back and expects Toe Cutter but instead 3 faceless men loom over him, one with a rock in his hand, ready to bring it down…

 _Max_ … _MAXXXXZZZZ_

Jesse’s wail turns into the buzzing of his phone on his nightstand. He jerks awake, lifting his face off the pillow, eyes barely open and pats around on the nightstand until he locates the buzzing burner phone. He lets his head fall back down into the pillow, regrets it when he’s reminded of the bruise on his eye socket, and lifts the phone to his ear.

“Lo?” He mumbled sleepily.

“Forget you were working today boy?” Keep asked cheerfully on the other end. Max cracks open an eye and looks at the time on his alarm clock. Shit. He was supposed to be awake over an hour ago.

“Overslept. Be right in.” He mumbles and goes to hang up but hears Keep still talking so he brings the phone back to his ear.

“No hurry, just wondering if you were coming in today!” She said. He grunted and hung up. He attempted to roll on his back, big mistake, and it took him a solid minute to finally get out of bed. He hobbled to the bathroom, pissed, then went back into his room. He stiffly went around to the other side of the bed and pulled out a small black duffel bag. It rattled when he picked it up, containing several pill bottles, sleeping pills, some left over painkillers (he was eyeing those) but he decided on a mix Ibuprofen and Tylenol. He would avoid the narcotic’s for as long as he could, he always had.

He hobbled back to the bathroom and washed the pills down with the water from the sink. After that he splashed some cold water in his face then inspected it, water dripping off his chin. His eye was purplish red and swollen, there was a cut on his lower lip, scabbed over and dark and it looked like his nose had bled some more during the night, blood was smeared on his cheek and above his lips. He needed a shave and his hair was chaotic, he rubbed the scruff on his chin, working his jaw then limped out the bathroom. The grueling process of getting out of his current clothes and into some new ones took longer than he would like to admit, and after he finally changed, strapped on his leg brace, changed the gauze on his knuckles and made it downstairs, almost 10 minutes had passed since Keep had called. He grimaced as he tried to shrug into his winter jacket, his arms and ribs sore for different reasons.

He pulled on a black hat and wool mittens that doubled as fingerless gloves and started the cold walk to work. He slowly and stiffly walked, the Tylenol and Aspirin barely taking the edge out of the pain. He reluctantly approaches the spot where the fight happened, slowing to a stop, his breath puffing out his open mouth into the air like smoke. He could see the dark drops and smears on the pavement from both him and the other men, but there was no nothing else. Vaguely disgruntled he stiffly continues walking, chin tucked into his jacket, the cold making his eyes water. He’s two streets away from the bar when someone calls his name.

“That you Max?” Asked his landlord, Miss Giddy, who had been approaching the gate to her yard, a recently lit cigarette between her middle an index finger of a shaky gloved hand. She walked through the gate, sticking the cigarette in her mouth and closed it behind her, the wind softly blowing her frayed white hair.

“Mhmhm.” He hummed, eyeing her, worried that she wasn’t wearing enough layers for the cold.

“You going to work?” She asked, cigarette poking out of her mouth.

“Mhm.” He answered.

“Care to walk me to Keep’s?” She asked and he hummed again. She approached him and hooked her arm around his, his hands anchored in his pockets. They walk quietly for a moment, both stiff in the cold.

“Too early to be this cold.” She said after a few moments. He nodded, humming in agreement.

“You gotta use your words more Max.” She advised him.

“Yes Ma’am.” He answered, voice low and rumbly. She smiled and tightened her arm around his. Miss Giddy, he had noticed, seemed to absolutely glow when any sign of respect was directed at her, a bad husband or something had neglected her, so he tried to indulge her when he could. They finally arrive at the bar, Max grimaces up the steps and pulls the door open for Miss Giddy. She looks up at him to thank him and for the first time notices his black eye.

“Who did that to your face?” She asked, frowning.

"Nothing. Accident.” He mumbled. She looked at him knowingly but just shook her head and walked in, him following behind. On the inside he saw Keep across the bar, hanging a frame on the wall, her back to them, standing on a wobbly bar stool. She glanced over her shoulder to Miss Giddy who was walking to her seat at the bar.

“Well hello dear,” Keep said sweetly to Miss Giddy, then went back to adjusting the picture. “And look who decided to show up for work.” She teased, straightening the photo then slowly descended down the stool. “Now Boy, I thought you should know that Furiosa is going to be working here today,” She drawled as she got down off the stool and started carrying it back to the bar. “So if anyone gives anyone any trouble you let her handle it, okay?” Keep asked sweetly before looking up at him as he finally shrugged off his coat. “What the hell happened to your face Boy?” She asked sharply, as if his wounds were an inconvenience.

He mumbled something incoherent as he headed to the bar, trying not to limp. She watched him with her hands on her hips, looking at his still gloved hands, putting the pieces together. She was about to open her mouth when Nux walked out from the back, returning from a chore Keep had sent him on earlier.

“Hey!” Nux greeted, his face lighting up then furrowing when he saw Max’s eye.

“What happened to your face?” Max grunted and checked the cooler under the bar and headed out back, pushing past Nux. He pushed the back door open and almost ran into Furiosa. Both kind of jumped at the surprise, Max muttered a sorry that she barely understood and tried to brush past her but she caught sight of his eye and turned her head to watch him, narrowing her eyes.

“What happened to your eye?” She asked calmly as he tried to shift a crate, his back to her.

“Nothing.” He mumbled, sounding strained. “Accident.” Furiosa finally turned around, crossing her arms.

“Let me guess,” She coolly, tilting her head. “Fell down the stairs? Walked into a door?” Max froze in his search for…whatever it was that he was looking for and turned to look at her, narrowing his eyes then turned back to the crate.

“Mhm.” He grunted. Annoyed with his answer Furiosa walked back out front, catching sight of a disgruntled Keep. She shook her head at Furiosa and Furiosa nodded back, both thinking the same thing. Max comes out back with a few Heinekens that the front freezer had apparently been lacking and Furiosa went over and asked Miss Giddy what she wanted to drink.

“Rum and Coke.” Miss Giddy answered as she put out her cigarette. She was the only one allowed to smoke in the bar and everyone knew it. Furiosa busied herself making Miss Giddy’s drink while Max slowly leaned over a newspaper, jaw clenched as he shifted weight off his bad leg.

“What brings you in here Furiosa?” Miss Giddy asked, while Furiosa finished making her drink, sliding it towards her.

“Joe was in here last night. Here to make sure he doesn’t start shit.” She said casually, then patted the bat next to her underneath the bar. Max was a few feet away intently reading the newspaper, not facing them but Furiosa had no doubt he was listening. Miss Giddy’s face darkened.

“That bastard better not come back.” She grumbled. “He didn’t bug any of the girls did he?” Miss Giddy asked. Furiosa nodded.

“Got handsy with Toast and Angharad.”

Miss Giddy spat. “Bastard makes me sick. You rough him up good,” Miss Giddy was saying then glanced at Max. “Before this gets out of hand.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

They don’t see Keep for the rest of the day except when she comes down mid afternoon with an armful of tiny potted flowers.

“Look what Cheedo painted!” She announced happily, letting Nux inspect the tiny terracotta pot with delicate patterns painted on it. She had Nux place them on each table and went back upstairs for the remainder of the night. Around 4 things start to pick up and the Dag breezes in around 5.

“Hello lovely people!” She greets cheerfully as she starts shedding her winter layers. Nux smiles and returns the greeting and Furiosa offers a small _hey_ and Max just nods. She stops dead at Max. “What the hell happened to your face?” She asks, sounding oddly like Keep, sliding onto the stool in front of him.

He grunts something that sounds like _stairs_ and Dag turns to Furiosa with a raised eyebrow that meant _Do you fucking see this?_ Furiosa shrugs. Then the Dag shoots her next question off to Furiosa. “What are _you_ doing here?”

Furiosa works her jaw, contemplating on telling her or not. Finally she responded: “Just making sure a special scumbag doesn’t show up tonight.”

The Dag tilts her head back in an exaggerated slow nod, mouthing _Ohhh_.  She had surely by now heard about Joe from Toast or Angharad.

The rest of the night runs smoothly, Joe doesn’t come in and the Dag has a harassment free night. Unfortunately she occasionally gets distracted by the plants placed on the tables by Keep, losing interest mid order to abruptly lean over and inspect the plant and the designs painted on the tiny pots. When she does this her disgruntled customers fall into an angry silence and wait for their waitress to turn her attention back to them. When her shift ends, she leaves without many tips, but a happy Cheedo in her arm.

“Night Furiosa! And Nux and Max!” Cheedo calls out as her and Dag leave. Furiosa waves, a small smile on her lips and Nux waves happily back, and Max gives her a small wave and a nod. The three of them, well more Nux and Furiosa than Max, who barely moved from behind the counter, made quick work of cleaning up the bar. Max looked pained, both from his injuries but also from not being able to help work, but he remained quiet.

Nux leaves a few minutes before Furiosa, who runs upstairs to say good bye to Keep, who had planted herself in front of the TV. Furiosa was surprised to see _Scarface_ playing. When she goes back downstairs Max is cleaning another glass.  She goes behind the counter past him to grab her messenger bag when he clears his throat.

“Who’s Joe?” He asks, voice low and gravelly. She stops and looks at him, surprised. She thinks it over for a minute while he continues, unnecessarily, to clean the glass, brow furrowed in concentration.

“He’s….” She started, not sure how to put it in words. He glanced at her uncertainly through his swollen eye, which seemed more purple than red now. She wet her lips and turned her head for a moment before asking: “Want to take a drive?” He stopped cleaning the glass and turned his head fully towards her, a look of confusion crossing his face.

“What?”  He asked.  

“It’s easier if I show you…” She answered, finally looking at him. He seemed to contemplate it then nodded, putting the glass down. They finish picking up, put on their coats (she notices that Max seems to be having a particularly hard time doing so), turn off the lights and walk out the door, Max locking up behind them. It’s dark like the night before, the street lights illuminating their breath as they make their way to Furiosa’s truck.

She climbs in, suddenly realizing what a mess it was. Cheedo and the girls were used to it, feet sitting on empty take out bags and water bottles, but Max- Max opened the door, the lights in the foot space under the glove compartment illuminated a half-eaten bagel she threw down there two weeks ago. She stared at it emotionlessly while Max glanced at the bagel, then at her, then climbed into the truck. They both elect to ignore the food on the floor.  

 She turns the key in the ignition but it doesn’t start and they hold their breath. She does it again and it starts to life. She turns on the heat but it’s going to take a few minutes before hot air blows out and they sit there with the car idling while the engine warms up. When the air being blown through the vents is finally warm she shifts the truck into drive and slowly drives down the street and turns down the next one.

They pass by a mini mart. “Joe’s.” She says, pointing past him towards it. They pass a few rundown apartment buildings. “Joe.  Joe.  Joe.” She points to each of them. She goes down another street and points at the laundry matt, diner, another bar. “Joe’s. Joe’s. Joe’s.” She pulls down her street and slowly drives past her house and then drives down the next. She points to more apartments and corner stores, listing Joe’s name. She turns onto Max’s street and stops in front of his rental house. She points to the two houses on either side of it. “Joe and Joe.” She says and turns to him as he stares worriedly at the houses she had pointed at.  She sat back against her seat, sighing.

“He owns half the neighborhood, used to own the whole thing when me and my…family moved here when I was a kid. We kind of pushed him out, the street that the bar is on is all ours, and he lost a lot of housing after some health inspectors shut down a bunch of his places. But he…he’s still has a lot of power.” She said, not looking at him. Max bows his head and they remain silent for a minute when Max mutters so quietly Furiosa almost doesn’t hear him.

“Got jumped.”

She turns to him.  “By Joe’s guys?”

“Think so.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t go to the cops?”

“No.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek. She wanted to ask why he was avoiding the cops but knew she probably wouldn’t get a good answer out of him.

“Joe’s a very bad man.” She finally said. “He’s done horrible things just to get back at people.  If he thinks you’re a problem…he’s not going to go away.” Max was familiar with Joe’s type, there had been plenty at on the force, the cops who joined for the power, the ones who snapped with rage when their authority was questioned, the ones who got off from pulling people over and telling them what to do. The ones who thought themselves gods because they had a badge. Max hated people like them then and hated people like them now.

He looked down at his hands, the gloves still on, never taking them off the entire day at the bar. He had been able to get away with it because it was drafty inside the bar and not uncommon for people to leave gloves or an extra layer on while inside.  He cleared his throat and muttered _thanks_ and opened the door, the cold air assaulting him and he shivered. He got out, his ribs protesting the movement and slammed the door behind him. He walked in, ate some cereal and crawled into bed. A nervous energy whirred in him but the need to flee had suddenly vanished and he found himself, surprisingly, able to sleep again.


	4. One of those nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! School got really intense and I lost all of my inspiration and enthusiasm for this fic but i finally sat down and worked out some stuff so hopefully I'll be able to update more this semester.  
> On another note, I am still relatively new to writing, and have never in my life written romance. So I will be very, very gently pushing these two together.  
> On one last note, this is mostly a filler chapter.

 

“Are you an artist?”  The Dag asked, leaning on the counter.  The bar was empty except for two people holed up in their respective booths, Nux was out back and Furiosa was upstairs with Keep, leaving the Dag with nothing to do but prod at Max.

He blinked slowly, looking up from the newspaper he'd been hunched over, arms folded neatly below the article he was browsing.  Technically, he was an artist.  When he was in high school he loved to draw, he had been good at it too.  It had brought a quiet and a calmness to his head that not much else did, but that changed after the… ‘accident’.  From then on out whenever he attempted to draw, the calm focus was replaced with the anxiety of failure so he left it behind like everything else.  He hasn’t picked up a pencil in years…

“No.”  He answered.  She sighed and he let curiosity get the best of him.  

“Why?”  He asked.  She shrugged and sipped her drink through the tiny cocktail straw.

“There’s this artist called Damian Flores.  When he was a kid he was really quiet and really serious so his parents thought there was something wrong with him, you know, mentally.  So they took him to a doctor but it turns out…”  She raised her eyebrows at Max.  “He was just being an artist.  So I thought ‘Max is very serious and very quiet, maybe he’s an artist’.”  The Dag explained.  She stared at him innocently while she sipped her drink and he shook his head.  

“Not an artist.  Just mental.”  He grunted, vaguely amused and barely heard Dag say into her glass, “Just what I thought.”

“You an artist?”  He asked after a moment of awkward silence.  She shook her head.

“I’m not but Cheedo is.  You should see her stuff, it’s fucking amazing, she’s a genius.”  The Dag gushed, eyes lit up and a toothy smile on her face.  A small smile passed Max’s lips, her excitement infectious.

“Everyone’s an artist.”  The Dag said thoughtfully after a moment.  “You could be one too if you wanted.”

“Maybe.”  Max mumbled, pushing himself off the counter.  The door opened and both him and Dag snapped their heads to see who was entering.

A woman with a mane of dark hair walked in, a faint smile on her face.  She came up to Max and Dag and leaned on the counter.

“Is Furiosa here?”  She asked and Max nodded.

“Upstairs.”  He answered and the woman nodded.

“Okay, I’ll wait for her.”  She said, then turned to the Dag and offered her hand.

“I’m the Valkyrie.”  The Dag’s eyes widened in recognition, tossed the cocktail straw out of her glass and dramatically threw back what was left of her drink.

“The Dag.”  She said, slamming her glass down.  Max squinted at her.  Valkyrie chuckled, flashing white teeth and the Dag shook her hand.  Val turned to Max.  She scanned his face, lingering on his black eye.  He stared sternly back, tensing up.

“You must be the new bartender….Max.”  Val said slowly, eyeing him coolly.  He nodded and grunted affirmation.  The Dag shifted uncomfortably when the back door swung open and Nux and Furiosa walked in.  Furiosa froze when she caught sight of Val, then Val smiled broadly at her and Furiosa broke into a small smile.  She ran around the counter and Val slipped off her stool to meet Furiosa halfway in a huge embrace.  Nux looked at them curiously and tried to whisper to Max, “Who is that?”  

Max shrugged, pretending like he didn’t just hear her introduce herself to Dag.  Val and Furiosa finally broke their embrace but remained in close contact, Val rubbing Furiosa’s upper arm warmly.

“How are you?”  Val asked excitedly while Furiosa smiled brightly.  She shrugged.

“I’m good.  Where’ve you been?”  Furiosa asked.  Val shrugged.

“Out West mostly, heading up to Maine to check on the Northern home.”  She said.  Keep’s gang, the Vuvalini, had a home for battered women up north in the woods that the others frequently came down from to visit.  Furiosa’s situation was more of a halfway home that seemed to be turning into just a home.  Furiosa nodded and smiled.

“You gonna talk to Keep?”  She asked and Val nodded and Furiosa turned to the Dag and Max.

“Gonna be back in a minute.”  She said and the Dag made the ‘ok’ gesture with her hand.  

 

That minute turned into five hours, and just as Max was getting ready to close, they all clambered back down the stairs.  Max looked curiously at them, waiting to see if he was good to go.  Keep smiled at him.  

“Mind hanging around for a bit?  Think it’s gonna be one of those nights.”  She said.  By those nights, Max knew she meant one of those nights where everyone came in for a drink, so he nodded, looking earnestly at her, then quickly glanced at Furiosa, who was still talking to Valkyrie.  A smile crossed her lips and he was pleasantly surprised by dimples that he had failed to notice before.  

Max averted his eyes and went back to wiping down the counter.

 

Capable showed up first and her and Nux greeted each other by a kiss over the counter.  Dag booed them and Val joined in.  Angharad and Cheedo showed up next, Angharad looking like a giant marshmallow in her puffy white jacket.  She grumpily sat at the bar, knowing well that she wouldn’t be able to drink with everyone else while Cheedo and the Dag giggled next to each other.  Lastly Toast burst in, announcing she was now an official employee of Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Well, that is certainly worthy of a…toast.”  Val started, then giggled at her own joke.  She had already had a bit to drink.  Toast squinted at her, not amused.  This was not the first time her name had been used in pun.

“Hi, I’m the Valkyrie.”  Val said leaning forward and extending her arm with a warm smile.  Toast lightened up and smiled and shook her hand.

“You got a job in the hospital already?”  Keep asked.

“It’s not surgical, I’m just the unit secretary for the ER.  It’s per diem so I’ll probably still be able to pick up shifts here when I’m not in school.”  Toast told her.  Keep nodded, with a ‘not bad’ expression and Toast slid in between Capable and the Dag.  Soon Max found himself on one side of the bar with 8 women (plus Nux) on the other side.  

Keep stood up to her full height, all five feet, and the chatter dwindled down.

“Alright, Max is gonna get everyone a round, on me,”

“Who else would it be on.”  Toast muttered darkly and Capable cuffed her.  Keep narrowed her eyes at Toast.

“Don’t be a smartass.”  Keep warned her, shaking a finger at her.  Toast smiled wryly.  

Amused, Max started at the end of the line, with Furiosa.

“Rum and coke.”

He turned his attention to Valkyrie.

“Same."

To Keep.

“Tequila dear.”

Angharad, who sighed dramatically.

“Water.”

Cheedo, who leaned forward and giddily asked:

“Do you have orange soda?”  

“Umm…”  Max hummed, looking under the bar.  He didn’t think they did…

“There’s some in the back, boy.”  Keep said and he turned back to Cheedo and nodded, trying to look friendly.  She had been shy of him for months and only recently seemed less scared of him.

“I’ll have that then please.”  She said smiling and Max nodded and he turned to the Dag.

“I guess I’ll have…hmm…I want something fruity.”  The Dag contemplated.  Max nodded and turned to Toast.

“Moonshine.”  She said, resting her head on her hand.  Max blinked.  

“You sure?”  He asked.  He had no doubt that Toast would hate moonshine, let alone be able to handle it.  She sighed impatiently.  

“Yes.”  

He nodded, looking unconvinced and turned to Capable.

“I’ll have a Sam Adams.”

Lastly Nux.

“I’ll have a Sea Breeze.”

Toast snorted while Capable turned to him, a big smile on her face. “Sea Breeze?”  She asked gently giggling, and he smiled back, nodding manically.

“Yeah.  They’re good!”  He said and Capable turned back to Max.

“I’ll have one of those instead then!”  She said, smiling. Max nodded and got them their drinks while they chattered.  Once everyone had their drinks he turned to go out back to give them some privacy but Keep sensed it and stopped him.

“Uh uh,  you’re a part of this now.  Pour yourself a drink boy.”  She said, leaning over the counter to flip over a shot glass.  Max blinked and looked behind him, as if an excuse would be sitting in plain sight.  There wasn’t.  Keep raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to resist and he sighed and walked back over to her overturned shot glass and poured some bourbon.  

He caught Furiosa smirking at him over her drink.  Keep raised her glass and everyone fell silent, and looked at her.  

“This is for everybody, for Toast getting a job at the hospital, for Val coming to visit, for that baby,”  Keep winked at Angharad, “Now drink!”  

Everyone threw back their drinks, Toast immediately spat out her moonshine (as Max expected and quickly gave her some juice to chase it with), Cheedo nearly choked on her drink because she was laughing so hard at Toast, and the Dag and Keep immediately demanded another round.   

The girls chatter for a while, Max filling up empty glasses when asked, but quickly ran out of things to do and leaned back against the counter, cleaning a glass that Angharad had finished with and listened.  They chatter and laugh and Max feels the warmth in his belly from the bourbon and finds himself feeling vaguely...content.  

They continue drinking for about an hour, and would have kept on going but Angharad got impatient, and due to her status as the designated driver, she got to decide on the time they left.  They wrap up, Furiosa and Nux help Max clean up.  Val and Keep head upstairs, bidding everyone good night, and the rest pool out the bar, Max locking up behind them then briskly walking past them into the dark.  

Angharad drives Toast, Cheedo, and the Dag home, Capable and Nux walk off towards his apartment, hand in hand, Capable giggling and bumping shoulders with him.  Furiosa finds herself having to choose between: cramming herself between Cheedo and Dag, since Toast had already claimed the passenger seat, or walk home.  Furiosa considers removing Toast from the passenger seat, but Toast was hard to deal with sober, and Drunk Toast was about a thousand times harder and Furiosa decides it’s not worth the trouble.  She decides to walk home, and about five minutes into the walk, she ends up catching up with Max, who is also walking home.  

“Hey!”  Furiosa calls out, jogging to meet up with him.  He swiveled around, hands stuffed in his pockets and a black hat pulled down to his raised eyebrows.  She stumbled a little, the world shifting a bit too fast in her peripherals, and skidded to a stop a few feet from him, her breath puffing white in the air.  

“I’m walking home too.”  She explains, unnecessarily, once shes caught her breath, the cold air stinging her lungs.  

“Oh.”  He answers awkwardly and they shuffle side by side in silence, heads slightly bowed, neither feeling particularly compelled to fill the silence.  Finally, and unexpectedly, Max spoke first.  

“So...um…you two were close?”  He asked and she turned to him, confused.  “Valkyrie.”  He clarified.  Her expression cleared and a small smile passed her lips.  

“Yeah.  We’ve known each other since we were kids.”  She answered.  Max grunted, amused.  

“You grow up here?”  He asked.  She nodded.

“Moved here when I was four.”  

“Where from?”  

“Arizona.”  

“Mhm.”  Max hummed, nodding.  Furiosa glanced at him slyly.  

“What about you?”  She asked.  Historically, Max wasn’t good at answering questions.  The most specific response he had given to the question ‘Where are you from?’ was ‘West’ but she hoped the openness she had offered would go both ways.  

“Um,” He hesitated then answered, “New Mexico.”  

“Hm.”  She hums, amused, noting that Arizona and New Mexico were right next to each other.  She opened her mouth to say something else but realized they had reached her house.  She stopped, a little disappointed that their walk had ended.  He stopped too, they both eyed Angharad’s car, noting that the girls had made it home safe.  She sighed, her shoulders dropping.  

“See ya tomorrow?”  She asked, a little deflated and he nodded.  She turned to walk down her driveway but she heard Max clear his throat.    

“Got your snow tires on?”  He asked.  She stopped and turned around, her eyebrows raised.  He nodded towards Angharad’s car.  “Supposed to snow the day after tomorrow.”  He added.  She shook her head.  

“On my To-Do list.”  She said, kicking the back tire of Angharad’s car with her boot.  “Was supposed to show Toast how to change them but...never got to it.”  She said, trying to figure out how she was going to fit it in her schedule.  Max awkwardly cleared his throat again.  

“If...you... um…can’t get to them all...”  He ducked his head and shrugged, looking anywhere but her.  “...I can help.”  She looked at him for a moment, contemplating.  She could do it by herself, but since he was offering...

“Yeah.”  She answered, smiling.  “Can you be here by 8?”  

He nodded, still not quite able to look at her.  She smirked.  

“I’ll see you then.”  She said and he turned around to finish walking home.  “Night Max.”  She said after him, not wanting to yell but still wanted him to hear her.  He turned his head and nodded.  

“Night.”    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback would be highly appreciated.


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